


Kashio's Weakness

by WarLepidoptera



Category: Griftlands (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Parenting, Emotional Manipulation, Gen, Like especially bad parenting from Kashio, Mention of blood, Spoiler alert : she's not a great person, not sure I got the lore right, who would have known, written when the game is still in early access, young Sal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25510987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WarLepidoptera/pseuds/WarLepidoptera
Summary: After joining the Spark Barons, Kashio confronts Sal one last time.Written from Kashio’s point of view. Basically my take on the parental-figure-selling-you-for-a-lifetime-of-slavery kinda thing.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Kashio's Weakness

Calm and collected, Kashio poured herself some wine into a glass. The apartments for Spark Barons were quite nice. They were clean and spacious, and the bed easily beat by far the cold and hard one she had been used to sleep on all her life. But more importantly, it was safe. The walls were sturdy and high. There was no room for sneak attack, robbery or any other unpleasant things of the sort.

Kashio brought the glass to her lips. But then stopped. Her acute hearing trained by many years of rough training suddenly picked up some distant sound. Something, or more precisely _someone_ , was making a fuss somewhere in the building. The screaming and shouting slowly became louder and louder until Kashio’s apartment door opened with a loud bang.

“KASHIO!” a familiar voice yelled. “YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO.”

Kashio calmly put down her glass. “Not so safe apparently,” she mumbled to herself. And lifted her eyes toward Sal’s face that was presently facing her, distorted with clear anger and rage.

“WHY DID YOU DO IT?” the teenager screamed at her. “EVERYBODY WAS COUNTING ON YOU! WHY WOULD YOU BETRAY US LIKE THAT?” The hurt in her voice was palpable.

Kashio looked at her young prodigy. She had rarely seen Sal this angry. Stubborn, maybe. She was a tenacious one after all. Maybe even the most tenacious kid that Kashio had ever met. At only 13 years old, her survival instincts were already sharp and her blades, already quicker than most adults.

Kashio had trained her well.

Suddenly behind Sal, two Spark Baron guards appeared, visibly out of breath.

“Sorry Kashio… This one slipped thought security,” the jarackle guard brought her hand to her weapon. “You’re coming with us now!” Sal immediately did the same. A menacing and deadly glint in her eyes.

Kashio raised her hand. “Wait. Let us be,” she said to the two Spark Barons behind Sal.

The second guard opened her mouth. “But—”

“ _Let us be._ ” Kashio repeated. Her voice echoed gravely in the room. “This business is mine and mine alone.”

The two guards immediately backed away. But in front of the bloody-thirsty teenager they still hesitated to leave.

“Are you sure th—”

“ **Leave.** ” This time Kashio raised her voice, just a little. The guards immediately jumped and fled the scene without a second thought.

With the guards finally gone, Sal relaxed a little, detaching her hand from her blades, but she still looked at Kashio with a mistrustful stare.

Kashio ignored it and walked back to her quarters. “So, what are you waiting for?” she said. “Come on in.”

The human looked destabilized by Kashio’s sudden invitation. She vacillated a little from one foot to another.

“W— What do you mean?”

“You’re right. We have a lot to tell each other.” Kashio reached again the table with her glass of wine and took a sip. The alcohol burned her throat in an almost pleasing way. She pointed her finger to the chair. “Come on, there’s no reason for us to fight,” she invited her.

The young teenager didn’t come inside immediately. Sal stayed for a moment at the door, looking deeply conflicted. But at some point, she hesitantly took a step in.

Sal walked slowly to the table. She moved like a cat, tiptoeing as if she suspected a feral erchin could ambush her at any moment. Kashio could also see that the young girl couldn’t help but eye at all the luxuries in the room, the long curtains, the art, the stained glass. That wasn’t surprising. There was probably more money in this room than Sal had ever seen in her entire life even with those weird invaluable antiquities that Sal’s parents sometimes insisted on digging up from the ground.

But when she reached the chair. Sal’s eyes grew cold again. She sat with contempt, crossing her skinny arms close to her body.

“Fruit?” Kashio pushed toward her the bowl with the delicious fruits, most of them a rare delicacy coming directly from the Deltrean empire.

If Sal’s eyes could throw spikes, Kashio wouldn’t be more than a corpse right now.

“It’s free,” Kashio insisted.

 _“Why did you do it?”_ Sal growled.

“I’m going to need you to tell me exactly what you are accusing me for if you want me to answer that question,” Kashio responded impassively.

Sal put her fist on the table. “ _You know exactly what I’m talking about!_ Why did you do it?! Why did you join the Spark Baron? You know, the ones _who killed my parents!”_

Kashio could see that Sal was shaking. Years of pain was visibly resurfacing up. Life hadn’t been easy for her since the day Sal’s parents had been ambushed and killed by a group of Spark Barons. Since then, the work had been hard. Ruthless. And Sal had been mostly alone. With only mostly Fssh and Kashio on her side to teach her how to survive.

But what Sal didn’t know was that Kashio had been the one to give them the coordinates to Sal’s parents location that day. But there was no need to tell her that. Even if some people did suspect her treachery, they had no proof and when they did, Kashio was quite good at taking care of loose ends.

Well, _most_ loose ends anyway.

The shroke sighed. This was a situation she hadn’t been particularly looking forward to. But she had to clean up the messes she had caused now. In one way or another.

“I saw an opportunity and I took it,” Kashio explained in a neutral voice.

“An _opportunity?”_

“Yes. I found a cache that contained some powerful knowledge about how to activate the automatic merch we have been digging out and, in exchange, they agreed to make me a Spark Baron.”

That, on the other hand, wasn’t something Kashio deemed useful to hide. That was exactly what happened after all. And she didn’t have any regret. But the sincerity did nothing to calm down the teenager. On the contrary, it only seemed to aggravate her mood.

“But why?! You could have given it to us instead! _We could’ve done something with it!”_

Kashio crossed her arms. And looked directly into Sal’s eyes.

“… Do you remember the most important lesson I taught you?” she asked her after a moment. Her voice low, almost gentle, but still firm. “About fighting?”

The change of tone took Sal by surprise again. Confusion appeared on her face. She thought for a moment. “About … not picking fights I can’t win?” she responded, hesitantly.

“Exactly,” Kashio lifted her chin. “I also taught you, about fleeing if necessary. And also, more importantly, always prioritizing picking the winning team over the losing one when you can.”

Sal opened her mouth. “But—”

“Forget what your parents said,” Kashio interrupted her. “They are _dead_ now. Do you want the same fate?” she pointed out. “Do you want to join your corpse to theirs in whatever hole they are buried now? _Because that’s how you do it.”_

A spark of fear appeared on Sal’s eyes. Just an instant. But that was exactly the reaction that Kashio was looking for.

“Your parents made their decision,” she continued. “They knew the risks. They made the choice to do what they did. And, at the end, they _lost_.” Kashio paused for a moment. “It’s over. The barons control Grout Bog now. Putting your anger on them and getting yourself killed won’t bring them back.”

Sal’s opened her mouth again like she wanted to say something, but this time, no sound came out. She averted her eyes from Kashio instead, clenching her fists in silence.

Kashio looked at the young girl she had spent years training. It had begun as a hobby. A distraction. Sal had been an interesting kid. Always eager to learn a new technique, a new maneuver. A smart mouth too. Kashio had found it amusing. She also remembered enjoying seeing Sal trying to hit her again and again with her blades and the brief euphoria in her face when she thought she had managed to slip through Kashio’s defenses. But Kashio had always proven her otherwise.

She had even found it kinda … endearing in a strange way.

Kashio shook her head. But the playtime was over now. She had to let go of these feelings. It was time to think about the future. Her future.

“But… Spark Barons are bad people,” Sal finally said. “They hurt us. Why would you join _them?_ I don’t understand…”

“It’s not about who’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’ here. It’s about who is your _allies and enemies.”_ Kashio responded. “You’re still young Sal, but the truth is, no matter how quick your blades become, at the end, the difference between surviving and being killed is playing your cards right. Nothing else. I just did what was necessary. That all,” Kashio concluded.

Sal stayed silent again. Kashio knew that her words had reached her. But despite Kashio’s logical explanations, Sal continued to stare at the ground for a moment, her lips still trembling as if something was still weighing inside her.

She finally lifted her eyes at Kashio again.

“But still…” This time, Sal’s voice was almost a murmur, a plead. “…did you really have to leave like that?... To leave … _me_ like that?”

Her dark eyes fixed Kashio. Hopeful and vulnerable.

Kashio felt her hand tighten on her glass.

For the first time in her entire life, Kashio was finding herself in an advantageous situation. She had come so far; years and years of hard work had finally paid off. She now sat at the top, amongst the most powerful and Kashio certainly wasn’t ready to let that go. She had even sworn that she wouldn’t restrain herself anymore. Anyway, she had already caused too many deaths and pain to stop now.

But still, before Sal’s eyes, Kashio almost found herself hesitating.

 _Weak_.

Kashio stood up and turned her back from Sal. She knew what Sal wanted. She knew that she saw her as a mentor, a… parental figure even perhaps. But Kashio couldn’t be that. Not anymore. She had made her choice the moment she betrayed the Fallon family and there was no coming back. There was no way Sal would ever forgive her, and also, she had grand ambitions and she couldn’t let anything, or _anyone_ get in her way. No matter what.

Of course, Kashio had considered just killing the young human. She could do it right here right now. A simple slit on the throat. No one would notice. Sal wouldn’t even feel the pain. No one would know. It would be so easy. So efficient. So simple.

But Kashio closed her eyes. No… she didn’t want that. There must be another solution. One that didn’t involve her putting her blade against Sal’s neck at this exact instant.

Kashio turned back to Sal with a new resolve.

“I didn’t abandon you,” she said to her.

Sal blinked. “What?”

“You heard me well,” Kashio took a step forward. “Now that I’m a Spark Baron, I can _protect_ you. You won’t need to go hungry anymore or getting chased by any foreman’s vroc.”

“How—”

“You’ll be under my supervision,” Kashio cut her. “My protection. No one will be able to do anything to you. Not even the other Spark Barons.”

At those words, Sal looked at her with round eyes.

“… Really?” she looked unsure. Like she couldn’t believe it. As if it was way too good to be true. Kashio couldn’t blame her. This child had lived through too many broken promises already and it’s not as if life had been that kind to her so far.

Kashio put a reassuring hand on Sal’s shoulder.

“Do you trust me?”

Sal hesitated. Kashio could see the gears in her head working. Despite not being the smartest in Havarian, Sal was still pretty perceptive enough. But she was still a child, an orphan, in a corrupt world that either wanted you dead, or spending each second of your life as a working for tyrants who only desire was to suck up dry each ounce of manual labor out of its workers. Sal was no exception. Kashio knew that she didn’t have a choice. She had no one anymore. And not even Fshh would be able to provide for her alone.

_If it wasn’t Kashio, it would be someone else._

Sal finally yielded. “Yes…” she said, almost whispering again.

The answer satisfied Kashio. Even filled her with peace somehow. Kashio felt the faint trace of a smile appear on her own lips.

“Good.” Kashio’s hand lightly brushed Sal’s human hair. A gesture she had done several times since Sal was little. “I’m proud of you Sal.”

For the first time since she arrived, Sal’s body completely relaxed. She closed her eyes. Any trace of anger inside her was now long gone. Kashio recognized again the little girl that used to be very afraid of the dark.

Kashio let go of Sal’s hair. “Go now,” she said. “I have some preparations to make.”

Sal slowly opened her eyes and nodded at her. Kashio could see some disappointment in her traits, that she wanted to stay longer. To stay here with her longer. But she still listened to Kashio and walked obediently to the door.

She was about to exit the room but then stopped.

“… Kashio?” the human turned her head again.

“Hmm?”

“Thanks.” Sal gave her a last grateful smile before leaving.

Kashio watched as she went away in complete silence. But at the exact moment when she finally couldn’t hear the sound of the human's footsteps anymore, she immediately took her drink again and hastily gulped the rest of her wine.

Kashio then brought her hand to one of the drawers that was just in front of her and opened it. It was full of neatly organized files. Her fingers flipped through several of them. But the search didn’t take long. Kashio knew exactly what she was looking for.

Kashio pulled out Sal’s contract. She carefully put it down on the table.

She contemplated for a moment the simple sheet of paper that contained Sal’s entire fate. It hadn’t been easy to her to get her hand on it. But she had managed. One of the great advantages of her newfound authority.

Tomorrow morning, Sal would on her way to derricks. If Grout Bog was bad right now, she was about to experience ten times worse.

Kashio’s body fell heavily on her chair. It’s not like she felt bad. That wasn’t it. Kashio knew that Sal would be back. In how many years? Thirty? Twenty? Knowing Sal, it could even be less.

But when she returned, it would be for sure to kill her. Kashio had to be ready. Next time, she wouldn’t have the chance to hesitate anymore.

Kashio looked around the room. The Spark Baron apartment felt empty. As empty that the promises of uncaring sea gods.

Kashio closed her eyes. All her life had always acted with conviction… with necessity. There was no reason for her to stop now. She had no choice.

Sal was her only weakness after all.


End file.
